Fish and Deckers Creek

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Fish and Deckers Creek
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Do Not Mix!
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Fish Presentation

• Introduce Myself
• The FODC Mission
• The Grandma Rule
• My Goal for the upper Mon basin
• Fishes and the Big Picture
• Fishes and Deckers Creek
• A Fish Plan for Deckers Creek

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FODC Mission

• to improve the natural qualities of,
• to increase public concern for, and
• to promote the enjoyment of
• the Deckers Creek watershed

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The Grandma Rule

• Reason for cleaning up a river should be obvious
  to my grandma in one sentence.

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My Goal for the Upper Mon

• Recover waterbodies that support self-sustaining
  aquatic communities and provide quality
  opportunities for fishing and other forms of
  recreation for residents of and visitors to the
  region.

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I am not against fish stocking as a form of
fisheries management
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I am against depending on stocking as a means of
meeting water quality and fisheries objectives

• Inefficient
• Costly (fuel, food, manpower)
• Unsustainable
• Misleading / Misdirected Effort

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Fishes and the Big Picture

• 41 of fish species are freshwater (10,500
  worldwide) despite freshwater being only 0.01 of
  all water (importance of isolation and habitat
  diversity)
• 950 species in N.A. (75 in eastern U.S.)
• Tribs of Mississippi are the most diverse
• Upper Ohio is least diverse of this region
• Importance of the most recent glacial period

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• Tennessee River most diverse
• Atlantic slope least diverse
• New / Kanawha River basin relatively diverse

Warren et al. 1997
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Reproductive Behavior
Sculpins attach eggs to underside of cobbles.
Nests are defended by solitary males until young
disperse as juveniles.
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Reproductive Behavior
Sunfishes and basses excavate small depressions
and defend nests from predators.
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Reproductive Behavior
Salmonids construct redds, broadcast spawn over
them, and leave eggs to the vagaries of life.
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Reproductive Behavior
Cyprinid Spawning Mounds (probably constructed by
a central stoneroller, Campostoma anamolum)
Used by a mixed species assemblage
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Thermal Tolerances
Cold-Water Species
Eurythermal Species
Warm-Water Species
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Thermal Tolerances

• Preferred / Tolerable temperature ranges vary
  dramatically among fish species.
• Produces quasi-predictable changes in fish
  community structure along an upstream to
  downstream continuum. (spawning habitat,
  temperature, flow, food)
• Coldwater species are highly susceptible to
  habitat degradation because most forms of
  degradation lead to higher summer temperatures.